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Mike Grier, Sharks receiving heavy 2026 NHL Draft No. 2 pick trade interest originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 2026 NHL Draft is just three days away, and the Sharks are gearing up to add another integral piece to their roster with the No. 2 overall pick.

With plenty of talented prospects, such as forward Ivar Stenberg and defenseman Chase Reid, projected to be selected early in the draft, several NHL teams have expressed interest in trading up for San Jose’s high pick.

“There have probably been five teams that have been very consistently serious about it,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier told reporters Tuesday. “We’ve received a couple of legitimate offers that we’ve had to really think through and have conversations about. And I expect that’ll continue over the next three days here.”

Trading the No. 2 overall pick for an established NHL player would make sense for the Sharks, who are nearing the end of their rebuilding phase, but at the same time, it would be difficult to pass up the opportunity of adding another young player who has the potential of making a significant impact on the team for at least several years.

“It would have to make sense for us to move off of the second overall pick and potentially getting a player like that who can be on our roster for a long time,” Grier also stated.

“So it had to have been, obviously, a very good young player, or young players, who are maybe a little further along than an 18-year-old guy could step in and do the same thing and be part of our lineup for a long time.”

With the Sharks making a considerable improvement last season from the previous year, the team only is a few pieces away from becoming a legitimate playoff contender, with young stars Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith leading the charge.

“I think it’s probably a little bit of the fact that teams realize that we’re at the stage where we’re kind of turning the corner out of the rebuild and want to get better, so teams probably feel a little bit more open to making offers to us,” Grier stated, explaining why the Sharks have received heavy trade interest.

“And at the same time, I think, there’s the possibility of a team going up is to get a player that can really help, whether that’s to have an option to have a really good forward or a really good [defenseman] is enticing for teams.”

The Sharks already have traded for defenseman Michael Kesselring this NHL offseason as a much-needed addition to their blueliners, so expect Grier and Co. to make more moves to improve their roster, even if they decide to keep the No. 2 overall pick.

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Mike Grier, Sharks receiving heavy 2026 NHL Draft No. 2 pick trade interest originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 2026 NHL Draft is just three days away, and the Sharks are gearing up to add another integral piece to their roster with the No. 2 overall pick.

With plenty of talented prospects, such as forward Ivar Stenberg and defenseman Chase Reid, projected to be selected early in the draft, several NHL teams have expressed interest in trading up for San Jose’s high pick.

“There have probably been five teams that have been very consistently serious about it,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier told reporters Tuesday. “We’ve received a couple of legitimate offers that we’ve had to really think through and have conversations about. And I expect that’ll continue over the next three days here.”

Trading the No. 2 overall pick for an established NHL player would make sense for the Sharks, who are nearing the end of their rebuilding phase, but at the same time, it would be difficult to pass up the opportunity of adding another young player who has the potential of making a significant impact on the team for at least several years.

“It would have to make sense for us to move off of the second overall pick and potentially getting a player like that who can be on our roster for a long time,” Grier also stated.

“So it had to have been, obviously, a very good young player, or young players, who are maybe a little further along than an 18-year-old guy could step in and do the same thing and be part of our lineup for a long time.”

With the Sharks making a considerable improvement last season from the previous year, the team only is a few pieces away from becoming a legitimate playoff contender, with young stars Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith leading the charge.

“I think it’s probably a little bit of the fact that teams realize that we’re at the stage where we’re kind of turning the corner out of the rebuild and want to get better, so teams probably feel a little bit more open to making offers to us,” Grier stated, explaining why the Sharks have received heavy trade interest.

“And at the same time, I think, there’s the possibility of a team going up is to get a player that can really help, whether that’s to have an option to have a really good forward or a really good [defenseman] is enticing for teams.”

The Sharks already have traded for defenseman Michael Kesselring this NHL offseason as a much-needed addition to their blueliners, so expect Grier and Co. to make more moves to improve their roster, even if they decide to keep the No. 2 overall pick.

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Piggybacking off the earlier look into the forwards that could make sense for the Penguins to consider with the 22nd pick in Friday’s NHL draft, let’s take a turn to the blueline.

Be it coincidence or preference, Kyle Dubas has only drafted one defenseman in the first round since he became a general manager in 2018 (the year Toronto took Rasmus Sandin 29th, from – surprise, surprise, the Soo Greyhounds). The last five first rounders Dubas has made (Rodion Amirov [RIP], Brayden Yager, Ben Kindel, Bill Zonnon, Will Horcoff) have all been forwards. Forwards have also been the first pick Dubas made in 2019, 2021 and 2022 when his first selection of the draft was in the second round of those respective years. (He did take a defenseman, Harrison Brunicke, with his first selection of 2024).

Tendencies can sometimes be broken, but that might be worth keeping in mind when handicapping who the first pick of the Pens will be. You wouldn’t go wrong betting on a forward in most years, but there are some intriguing options on the blueline to consider as well.

Xavier Villeneuve 

Villeneuve could be the most polarizing prospect in the whole 2026 class. The Athletic’s recent feedback from NHL scouts included such snippets on him as, “the size and lack of willingness to defend scares the hell out of me” and from another “a bit one-dimensional and still questionable risk management”, a third saying “he can look like a mess. Bad defensive reads. A lack of strength to defend” yet another saying “Villeneuve is really bad defensively”. There was more along those lines, you get the picture.

What Villeneuve has going from him getting beyond the flaws is a very dynamic ability to impact the game as an offensive defenseman. He skates like the wind with excellent edge work. He sees the ice well and can make plays like few other. He performed incredibly well in off ice combine testing, showing that he’s one of the best pure athletes in the class. Villeneuve’s style doesn’t make fans of everyone, his positives are bright even if the negatives can be glaring at times, themselves.

To add to the consternation about his game, Villeneuve didn’t have a great draft season where he dealt with injuries and what some saw as a lack of progress in his season when he did play, including a shaky playoff when he likely wasn’t 100% in his return from an injury. Despite the unimpressive season, Villeneuve has such an extreme talent level which has kept him considered in the range to being a late-first round pick. He’ll have some teams that won’t rate him that way due to the question marks and style concerns with the lack of defensive dimension in his game, but he has his fans too.

It’s difficult to say if this is a player the Penguins are truly interested in, because this type of profile is so unique. In this day and age smaller defensemen like Quinn Hughes and Lane Hutson can thrive, yet other high-risk styles like Erik Brannstrom and Ty Smith end up mostly fizzling out. NHL teams strive for game-breakers, yet they also risk drafting a new-age Marc-Andre Bergeron (tiny, dynamic, power play weapon but little else of value). And, who knows, an M-A Bergeron comparison could even prove generous for Villeneuve.

The Pens added three defensemen in the top-100 picks of the 2025 draft, the average size of the trio being over 6’3″ and 200 pounds. Is that the profile they are going to want to stick to, or conversely have they built enough there to expand their horizons to seek something different and go in the direction of skill?

Villeneuve would be an intriguing pick, if only to show the Pens are willing to take on a large degree of tolerance to look for a big swing that could add a significant player to the roster, hedging against the chance that it flames out. Drafting a player with low-end compete and questionable on ice work ethic would be something of a deviation from the profiles of most players selected recently, and could also prove to be a little too risky at 22nd overall when the prospect pool has so many other needs and possibilities to add more of a sure thing. Taking Villeneuve will be the bold move someone will make, whether or not that will be the Penguins is questionable at best.

Tommy Bleyl

Bleyl could be seen as a more moderate version of Villeneuve. Both are nearly the same size (5’11” and about 165 pounds), Bleyl adds a difference in being a right shot defender. Unlike Villeneuve who was seen as having a stagnant season in 2025-26, Bleyl is coming into the draft with his stock on a rapid and massive rise. NHL’s Central Scouting had a 4th/5th round grade on Bleyl at the beginning of the season, he ended up being the 17th ranked North American skater in the final rankings that has him looking at a possible first round selection.

Bleyl’s strength is his skating and offensive ability, he also led the QMJHL in assists from his defense position which speaks to his ability to read and develop plays in the offensive zone. He does have concerns about his overall strength and how his transition to playing in the pros will go defensively, but is considered to be a better gap and positional defender than Villeneuve (which might not be saying that much).

Dubas and the Pens love to stockpile right shot defenders, and they don’t have many in the mold that can lead the rush and could be potential power play options in the NHL. Bleyl offers that dimension and would also make for a good debate to be picked, should he be available at 22.

Ryan Lin

Lin is a player with a lot more detail, maturity and well-roundedness in his game compared to Villeneuve and Bleyl. Being closer to 180 pounds, he’s got a more pro ready body type as well. As such, the Penguins sitting at No. 22 might not be in position to draft Lin. Getting him might require moving up the board a handful of picks, which can be a challenging exercise, though not an impossible one.

Scott Wheeler says of Lin, “Lin does almost everything at a high level, executes the small things extremely well and plays the game with a rare quality, maturity and detail for a D his age. He steers play with his quiet efficiency, feel for the game, puck-moving, A-level hockey IQ, good skating (he could use another gear in straight lines, but his footwork, pivots, edges, surfing, etc., are all high-end), a great stick offensively and defensively, and head-on-a-swivel defensive play and reads (shoulder checks, positioning, etc.). He’s comfortable in any situation and playing with anyone, and excels on both special teams”.

Corey Pronman used Sandin as a comparable to Lin, which depending on how the Pens’ brass sees it would certainly make Lin fit the profile of players that they’ve been interested in previously. The big question here looks more about availability within the Pittsburgh pick rather than concerns about the player. Should Lin still be around at 22, you’d have to think he was a player that will be under heavy, heavy consideration from Pittsburgh.

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Beyond that, the Pens could make what would be considered a reach at 22 for a defender like Jakub Vanecek or Adam Goljer but neither fit the profile of a player that Dubas has selected previously in the first round. Based on the strengths of this draft, there are better defenseman at the top-half of the first round, then a gap in talent. (Wheeler has five defensemen selected in a recent mock in the top-14, then only one from pick 15-24). Based on the overall talent pool, the back-end of the first round is shaping up to be more forward-heavy, which could suggest that Pittsburgh will be adding to that area with their first pick.

ST. LOUIS -- In what will be his last final time at the helm as general manager of the St. Louis Blues guiding the NHL Draft, Doug Armstrong will for the second time in four years have three first-round picks barring trade.

And true to form, in years past, Armstrong has always maintained the mantra that the Blues, who currently have pick Nos. 11, 15 and 29, the ladder two acquired from the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, respectively, pick the best player available on their board when their selection arrives.

They even did such when they had the 10th, 25th and 29th picks in Nashville in 2023. But will that be the case this time? This time, the Blues, who have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs in three of the past four seasons, should they make their selections, may be looking at organizational depth.

Should they pick more what they need rather than what they may deem the best player should that player on their board be available?

"I don't want to say what we won't do because then we'll end up doing it," Armstrong said Monday. "But I think we want to get some variety in our picks if possible. We've drafted heavily defensively lately and our organizational depth chart could use players in a couple different slots. We don't want to ask the scouts to jump out of a block to get a position, but we do want to talk about taking a position within a block, if that makes sense.

"So if we have five players in one block that we see somewhat similar, we might say, 'Hey, we're lacking in this area, can we move him up? Tell me the difference between moving up and if this guy's at the top and this guy's at the bottom of the block, is the positional difference great enough?' And that's things that the group will discuss over the next four days. It's a fun four days because our job is to go through every scenario that we can think of and then we get to the draft and then the first phone call is something we never thought of. That's what we like to call in our group, the crazy Ivan's. We've got to be ready for the crazy Ivan's."

The Blues selected Carbonneau, a forward, at No. 19 a year ago; defenseman Adam Jiricek was the 16th pick in 2024. They have focused on the defense position in the later rounds more so in the past couple seasons, so the forward slot, center or wing (preferably a big, powerful one) sounds like the preferred choice at No. 11.

But in a draft where there doesn't seem to be a clear-cut choice past probably Gavin McKenna going to the Toronto Maple Leafs first overall, imagine the scrambling when it gets into the teens when the Blues may make their pick?

"It's probably a couple players wider, but we see a distinction, and then we see probably not a lot greater than other years but more the just the number of players in that group of eight, nine, 10," Armstrong said. "... I think it's exciting, especially when you have the number of first-round picks that we have. Our amateur scouts have put a lot of work in since the trade deadline making sure we're prepared to select that 11, 15 and 29 to move up a few slots, to move into the late teens, early 20s. There's a lot of different options that we have and obviously the landscape has changed in the NHL regarding player movement, so our pro scouts are excited over that part. Everybody's excited for this week to see how it unfolds."

If the Blues don't pick in their positions, what would it take to move up? The Ottawa Senators, who acquired the ninth pick on Sunday from the Florida Panthers in the Brady Tkachuk trade, sound like they're open for business should the Blues want to move up a couple spots. Do the Blues trade picks for young players? All options are on the table.

"That's the one constant. That hasn't changed in our game," Armstrong said. "You let people know what you're considering to do and then that's probably a Thursday-Friday thing more than it is a today thing for the teams looking to move and for the teams looking to move up. There's very rarely much movement in that area. I think going from 11 to two, three or four would be seismic, and I haven't seen a seismic move like that in a long time. But maybe moving up two or three slots with our available picks is something. Then you have to weigh that with what you're giving up to move up. I haven't seen a lot of difference from this year. I'm not saying there won't be a difference, but that usually comes Thursday night and early into Friday morning as people have to make real decisions."

When Armstrong said "seismic," it likely means the Blues aren't in a position to pay the price of what it would likely cost to get into the top five. Their best bet is somewhere getting to perhaps No. 8 (Winnipeg Jets), maybe No. 7 (Seattle Kraken) but that's about as high as it sounds without giving up a boatload.

"Maybe Toronto, maybe San Jose this year. There's been teams, Dallas went to four ... usually go through a lot of pain to get that pick," Armstrong said. "So when you're lucky enough to win a lottery, you haven't gone through (just) six months of pain to earn a top three or four pick. I think there's always a difference in ... there's a line usually at every draft and that line is usually at three or four. Sometimes it's at one when it's a [Connor] McDavid. Sometimes it's a two or three. This draft seems to have more volatility to it where you've seen at least, I've seen at least four players go one, but I've seen nine players probably in the top five. That has more variety to it than I've seen in the past. So there could be a little more movement this year because of that variety. We have nine on our list and someone has three and then you make that move. You work in your blocks, I guess."

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